13 February 2012
After years of pressure from the third sector to introduce legislation already operating in other parts of the EU, the Government has confirmed that the Finance Act 2012 will introduce an exemption to allow charities and other not-for-profit organisations to collaborate without paying VAT for their services to each other.
16 December 2011
The Charity Commission has published guidance which provides welcome confirmation that charities may make 'social' and 'mixed motive' investments.
16 December 2011
The Upper Tribunal has published its decision regarding the public benefit requirement for independent schools.
20 July 2011
In his Budget 2011 the Chancellor announced that he would be introducing a new Inheritance Tax relief to encourage gifts to charity. A Consultation Document was published on 10 June 2011, inviting comments by 31 August 2011. Subject to these comments, the new measures are to take effect from April 2012.
29 June 2011
The Bribery Act 2010 comes into force on 1 July 2011. The Ministry of Justice published guidance earlier this year which shows that the Act can apply as much to charities as to other organisations. Charities should therefore consider taking appropriate steps to minimise the risk of liability under this new Act.
01 June 2011
The 'fit and proper persons' test introduced last year caused some concern amongst charities, particularly in relation to its scope and potentially wide application to 'managers'. HMRC issued new guidance on the application of the test earlier this year and have recently reported that it appears to be working well in practice.
09 May 2011
Many charities and their advisers have long been calling for reforms to the gift aid system. Several new measures for the reform of gift aid were announced in the Budget this year and go at least some way to addressing their concerns.
12 April 2011
Speed up your application to register a charity with the Charity Commission.
Charities with annual income of over £5,000 (and which are not exempt) must be registered with the Charity Commission. The registration process involves an on-line application providing details of the activities (or proposed activities) of the charity and of the trustees.
31 March 2011
Points of interest from the 2011 Budget.
03 December 2010
The announcement this week by the Treasury that the Legislative Reform (Industrial and Provident Societies and Credit Unions) Order 2010 will be re-laid before Parliament in the next few weeks has been welcomed by Burges Salmon.
30 January 2009
New company law changes will affect the way charitable companies are managed by their trustees.
30 January 2009
The Companies Act 2006 codifies directors’ duties in statute law for the first time.
30 January 2009
The Companies Act 2006 introduces a new procedure for members to bring a claim against a director on behalf of the company for “an actual or proposed act or omission involving negligence, default, breach of duty or trust by a director.”
30 January 2009
Sections 177 and 182 of the Companies Act 2006 re-state a director's duty to declare direct or indirect interests in a proposed or existing transaction or arrangement with the company. These company law requirements are in addition to the obligations on trustees under charity law to declare and manage conflicts of interest.
30 January 2009
The objective of the Companies Act 2006 is intended to be deregulation, mainly intended for small to medium-sized owner/manager company businesses – but some of the provisions may be of interest to charitable companies.